


things tend to live (a second chance to be human)

by Sylph8



Category: The Bifrost Incident - The Mechanisms (Album), The Magnus Archives (Podcast), The Mechanisms (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Archivist is The Lyfrassir Edda, Canon-typical apocalypse, Canon-typical eldritch horror, Depersonalization, Descriptions of Pain, Dissociation, Idiots in Love, Lyfrassir Edda is the Archivist, Lyfrassir Edda plays the cello, M/M, Marius has ADHD, Mechanisms-typical chaos, Mentions of Death, Mutual Pining, No beta we kayak like Tim, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Panic Attacks, Post-Episode 160, Tags Contain Spoilers, but reverse!!! so, but they’re short and not very good, im so fuckin tired rn haha, lyf gets to go feral (as a treat), someone teach them to communicate, yes i’m projecting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-05
Updated: 2020-11-21
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:20:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 18,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26845021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sylph8/pseuds/Sylph8
Summary: With the death of the last human victim of the apocalypse Fear itself dies.It’s just that the Archive is somehow still alive.
Relationships: Lyfrassir Edda/Marius von Raum
Comments: 75
Kudos: 289
Collections: Mechanisms and Magnus Crossovers that maintain the integrity of mechanisms lore, RaeLynn's Epic Rec List





	1. Terminus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the world dies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey uh this is the first thing I actually managed to write and feel comfortable posting? Not proofread because my brain would say ‘it’s trash, delete immediately’, sorry for that.
> 
> Anyway, hope you enjoy it! This is a prologue of sorts, so the main story will start a bit later.

In the middle of a barren wasteland, the Archive sat on what once might have been a chunk of concrete, patiently waiting for the world to finally die. 

It has been millennia, although, of course, that was just an approximation, since time was just as inexistent as it was in the beginning of the apocalypse. 

The Archive’s companion was long dead, as were all of its human acquaintances, and the grief that its once-human aspect, the Archivist, felt had enough time to fade into a dull sadness. The less-human inhabitants of the apocalypse were mostly dead too, and now the Entities themselves were slowly rotting and falling apart, an end that was clear and inevitable from the very beginning, and the Archive was here to document how it happened. 

It had become numb over the possibly-years, devoid of real emotions or opinions, with only faded imprints of old feelings to keep it company. The part of it that used to be the Archivist wasn’t as opposed to this as he once would’ve been - not being affected as much by the processing of the pain and despair of all of humanity became a bit more important than matters of identity. 

So the Archivist slowly learned to tolerate the fear, brushing away any remotely meaningful relationships that he still had left - the Distortion, for example, - and resigned to simply exist as what he was made to be: an Archive of humanity’s fear. It didn’t hurt as much as trying to change something and failing again and again, and there wasn’t really anything else to do anymore. 

The only arguably real feeling the Archive still possessed was curiosity - a cold, detached thing, always demanding to find out, to Know, to feed. 

So the Archive was curious when it felt the world around it shudder with the death of the last victim of the apocalypse. It was curious when a otherworldly scream of pain, rage and desperation of a dying god tore through reality itself, and, by extension, the Archive. It collapsed on the ground, hyper-aware of every sensation in its body, hastily recording the agony of its dying patron being channeled through the Archive’s body. Time still didn’t exist, but the white-hot pain lasted a very long time. 

The Archive, as powerful as it has become, still wasn’t able to See the future, but it did expect the death of its patron to feel like this. As it feels its mind slip into unconsciousness, it can’t help but feel relieved. 

***

The Archive did not expect to wake up. The long-forgotten feeling of confusion leaves a weird taste on its tongue, almost as strange as staying alive after the death of the world. 

Its body is still very sore from having the connection with its god being ripped right out of it, and its head is pounding. Still, the Archive slowly sits upright, covering its closed eyes from the bright sun, and- wait.

It carefully opens one eye, wincing at the flash of pain the light causes, and sees the last rays of the sun setting over the horizon, leaving only myriads of distant stars to light up the very eye-free sky. 

The Archive brings its hand away from its eyes, staring in awe at the cosmos. Even the domains of the Vast never had a sky completely without eyes, let alone any other place in the apocalypse. 

As it sits there, almost absentmindedly recording the position of stars in its mind, the remaining pain gradually fading away from its body, it senses an unfamiliar void inside, a gaping hole right in the center of its being. The emptiness feels weird and uncomfortable, and the Archive suspects that this is what its connection to its patron used to fill. 

At some point the Archive starts feeling cold and realizes that without the Fear bending reality as it pleases, time is very much a real thing again, and right now the time is night, so sitting in one place can get pretty chilly. 

With a heavy sigh, the former avatar of fear gets up, looks around and starts walking in a random direction through the endless wasteland. It’s warmer than just sitting on the ground, and the only interesting thing there was the sky which will follow the Archive anyway. 

It doesn’t expect to find anything worthwhile anywhere, but it’s better to check.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I’d be very happy if you left a comment, and please feel free to point out any grammatical/lexical errors!
> 
> I’m almost done with the second chapter, but will most likely post it whenever I’ll have the third more or less ready.  
> Thanks again :3


	2. Strange Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Old friends and new opportunities

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the comments and kudos! Hope you’ll enjoy this chapter as well :)

Unsurprisingly, the Archive lost all of its powers with the death of its god - or at least most of them, but it didn’t have the resources for precise tests. However, when it sees a figure in the distance and isn’t able to Know who that is, it makes no effort to approach it and keeps walking. If the Archive’s suspicions are correct, she will catch up on her own. 

Surely enough, about an hour later it hears footsteps behind it. 

"Well, well, well, it’s sure good to see a familiar face in a desert!” Helen jovially skips forward to it, placing a heavy hand on its shoulder. "Happy to be finally free from your oh-so-horrible burden, dearest Archivist? The others I met sure didn’t, most of them died, actually, fell right to the ground without their gods to keep them going, and I-" She went on like this, but the Archive wasn’t fully paying attention to her usual blabbering.

Helen’s hands were still heavy and had more angles than they were supposed to, but when she touched the Archive, it barely left a scratch instead of easily cutting its skin. She didn’t use her doors, either, and even her features looked just weird instead of painfully wrong. Still, it was rather interesting that Helen didn’t immediately die with the gods. 

"You’re dying, too, aren’t you?" It pointed out instead of a greeting, voice a bit rough from disuse - there wasn’t a point in recording statements anymore. 

"Ah, so you _are_ still able to speak!" Helen chirped, unconcerned. "And there I was worrying that you might’ve forgotten how to with that ‘being a literal archive’ thing of yours. Glad to see you’re still as grumpy as I remember, Archivist. But yes - isn’t it obvious? - I’ll be joining all the dead folk around here pretty soon. I am just an extension of the Spiral, after all. Honestly, I’m not even sure why I’m still around, but I won’t complain! Mind if I join you for a walk?"

The Archive didn’t bother answering - if Helen wanted to tag along, there’s nothing it can do to stop her. There’s no point, either, so it keeps walking forward, and the former avatar of the Spiral proceeds to hover around, talking the Archive’s ears off. 

In the end, it’s a tiny bit more interesting than walking alone. 

***

If you think about it, stumbling on a metaphysical chunk of a dead eldritch abomination wasn’t that improbable. After all, the apocalypse brought the Fear in tho their plane of existence, so it was logical that the remnants of its being would be scattered here when it died. 

It’s kind of invisible, but not really. Both the Archive and Helen can sense it, but it’s unclear if them being former avatars helps. The piece of indescribable matter was, in the Archive’s opinion, best described as a warped and melted section of reality with shadows of other realms peeking through. 

The Archive silently stares at it, taking in the incomprehensible sight, while Helen walks around, trying to poke it. Since they met in the wasteland, she has been gradually growing weaker, talking less and sometimes walking in straight lines instead of zigzags. Even her features seem less obscure now, but she’s still pretty annoying. 

Helen pauses her meddling and turns to face the Archive. 

"Would you like a door, Archivist?" She says casually, interrupting its train of thought. 

"What?"

"A door, Archivist, surely you still remember what a door is," Helen turns back to the fragment of the Fear god, putting a hand out and trying to touch it again, "While on our own we’re now pretty useless, we do still know a thing or two about using the power of our dearest patrons. This severed piece right here” - she pretends to slap it like a roof of a car or something similar - “still has some cool reality-bending power left. I could try to make a door to somewhere. Do you want it?"

The Archive stares at her for a few moments, trying to figure out if she’s fucking with it again. But she sounds pretty sincere, and it’s not like it can Know for sure anymore. 

"Wh- why would you offer something like that to me? Shouldn’t you be trying to get out yourself?"

"Oh, I am truly touched by your concern, dear, but, as you have pointed out previously, I’m dying. You, as far as I understand, are not. Benefits of being just a vessel for a god, instead of an extension, I guess. So what will you say?"

The Archive is having trouble processing all the possibilities coming from this offer, and is unable to answer for a few seconds. It’s actually surprised to notice that yes, while it does feel much weaker from loosing its god, it didn’t really get worse with time, unlike what Helen was apparently experiencing. Could it possibly continue to live on without sustaining itself with fear? And also possibly escape the barren wasteland that Earth has become? Where could it even go?

"Do you know where the door would take me?" It asks. 

"Dunno. The Corridors, sometimes felt like... like I could maybe go to weirdly far places? Further than would make sense if it was on Earth, I mean. As far as distance and direction have meaning in the Spiral, but you get what I’m saying."

"Interesting..." It glanced back at the desert, as if to make sure there was nothing else interesting on this doomed land. 

"Are you sure you can make a door like that though?" The Archive said, finally. 

"No idea. Let’s find out!"

Helen closed her eyes, concentrating. Nothing happened for a short while, but the Archive knew better than to interrupt her or to give up quickly. 

The tension broke when Helen smiled and opened a door that was definitely not there previously. It didn’t look as obnoxious as usual, faded and peeling grey paint barely covering rotting wood, but it was still impressive. Helen gave a short bow to the Archive as if she had just finished a performance. 

"Aaand I was right! There you go, Archivist, a one-way passage to somewhere. _However,_ " her tone suddenly changed as the Archive stepped towards the door, "this I will not be a free offer."

The Archive frowned. "What do you want?" It asked cautiously. 

"Ooh, I’m going to ask for a truly horrible thing, Archivist," Helen said menacingly, coming closer to loom over the Archive, "You will have to... _to try being a person again!_ " She giggled and patted it on the cheek, stepping aside. 

"Really, Archivist, this whole ‘I shall be an object’ thing has grown very old! If you’ll have the chance to live on, at least try to do so tastefully. Now, off you go, I can’t keep this open for too long!" 

She nudged the Archive, pushing it to the door. As it steps beyond the threshold, it looks back for a moment. 

"...I’ll do my best," it says, giving her a small smile. "Thank you, Helen. Goodbye." 

Helen smiles back and closes the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Am I writing the Archive as having emotions and opinions after stating that it doesn’t have them? Yes.  
> Will I say that the Archive is just an unreliable narrator? Also yes. 
> 
> I think I could be doing a better job with all of this, but at this point I’m just trying to get the plot out before my brain decides that it should never see the light of day. 
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading, stay tuned for the next chapter, where I’ll try to subvert trope-related expectations! :)


	3. Sunrise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New beginnings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> >:3c

The Corridors are nothing like what the Archive remembers. What once was a maddening, neon-bright maze is now a sickly passageway vaguely resembling a corridor, with drained colors, peeling wallpaper, broken floor and barely any turns. It does seem to stretch out very far, although the Archive has no way of telling if that’s new since distances weren’t a thing in the Corridors before. 

After what seemed like hours of walking with nothing but the sound of the creaking wooden floor to accompany it, the Archive notices that the already ragged and worn passageway have started to degrade even further, eventually becoming an empty concrete tunnel. It’s also pretty chilly now, so the Archive starts walking faster. It sees the cracks in the walls and the crumbling ceiling, feels that the corridor is barely standing. 

By the time the Archive finally sees the door, it’s almost running, the corridor almost collapsing behind it. It rushes forward, throwing the door open and dashing out into blinding sunlight. The door immediately falls apart and disappears along with the last Corridor. 

No turning back, then. 

Eyes adjusting to the light, the Archive takes in its surroundings. It appears to be a sunny day in some sort of a forest, only the sun is much smaller than it should be and the trees are nothing like those that grew on Earth. Must really be a different planet, huh. Somehow after a literal apocalypse and eldritch gods alien life wasn’t all that surprising. 

What is surprising, though, is finding an actual road nearby. The road markings are pretty different and the asphalt-like material looks weird, but there’s no mistaking it. 

Curious, the Archive chooses a direction and follows the road, and not even an hour passes before it spots an actual fucking town. Apparently, its whole life it had just the same amount of luck as anyone else, it’s just that all of it went into randomly appearing on a planet with civilized life. The Archive wasn’t sure if that was a good thing. 

It keeps walking until it reaches the settlement, looking around for any signposts or banners that would be written in the local language. It’s hard to tell from the few that it sees, but the words seem to be a weird version of Norwegian? Some passersby (who look almost like humans, what the fuck) give it odd looks but overall the Archive suspects that it doesn’t stand out too much. 

It should probably try to blend in with the locals. Come up with some name, maybe even get a job - Helen would be proud. The Archive had no idea how long it could live anymore, but pretending to be a person sounded pretty nice, now that there wasn’t an apocalypse going on. 

A good start would be finding information on the language, general culture, recent history and societal structure of this place. The Archive didn’t find anything resembling newspapers around, so it would probably have to steal a phone or whatever they use here. Good to know that the combined knowledge of an extinct race, including pickpocketing techniques, actually comes in handy. 

A short trip to a more crowded place and some practice in stealing left the Archive in possession of a fancy-looking phone and even some cash (at least it looked like it was cash). It was almost correct about the language - judging by the text in social media it’s closer to Old Norse, actually, which is still weird but at least the Archive doesn’t have to spend time learning it from scratch. The planet is apparently called Midgard, at witch point the Archive makes a decision to stop trying to comprehend the absurdity of the situation. Recent news articles, from what it can make out, write something about a revolution ending. There are some parts that it doesn’t really understand, something about support and, in another article, about attacks or bandits of some kind. The Archive decides to search more later. 

It is apparently hard to find clear descriptions of typical Midgardian behavior and mannerisms from a outsiders view, so the Archive moves on to the task of creating a new identity and pulls up one of the sites for parents who don’t know how to name their child. It settles on Lyfrassir Edda - a common name, but not generic enough to be suspicious. The Archive should probably choose pronouns, too, since it plans to interact with other people, so it decides that the local variant of they/them would be best - gender became a difficult concept after an eternity of consuming fear. 

By the time the Arch- _Lyfrassir_ is done, it’s already getting dark. Lyfrassir doesn’t have anywhere to spend the night, so they end up sitting on a bench in a park, looking through articles, blogs, videos and dictionaries (anything helps right now),  
until the phone battery dies just before the sun begins to rise. 

***

The morning starts with the sudden realization that food is once again something Lyfrassir needs to function properly, and the fact that it they haven’t eaten anything since their patron died means that they feel pretty awful. The lack of sleep doesn’t help at all. Nauseous, Lyfrassir gathers what little money they stole yesterday and makes their way through the quiet streets, searching for any shop that would be open now. 

They find a bakery that opened just as they were approaching it. Lyfrassir slips through the door, immediately focusing on the showcase. The cashier makes some noises that could be a greeting, but Lyfrassir isn’t exactly paying attention. 

"I would like" they point at some pastry that is both big and affordable, "that."

"Not having a good morning?" the cashier asks with a smile, packing their order in a paper bag. The question doesn’t register immediately. 

"Uh. Sure." Awkward, but they don’t want to deal with figuring out how basic communication works right now. 

Lyfrassir almost forgets that they have to pay, but manages to place the right amount of coins on the counter before grabbing the bag and turning for the exit. 

"Thank you for you purchase, I hope your day gets better!" 

Lyfrassir doesn’t answer as they exit the shop. 

***

The pastry that Lyfrassir bought was by no means a proper breakfast, but they were feeling less hungry (though the void that their patron left was still there). They are now sitting in the hall of the local administrative center, waiting in line. It’s late morning, but there are still a few people here besides Lyfrassir. The center itself was pretty untidy, clearly put together in a haste, with dusty floors, stacks of cardboard boxes still occupying some corners and work desks being any tables the government workers could find. 

It made sense, the revolution only ended a month ago, and the new Midgardian government had a hard time managing the fallout. _Excuse me, are you in the line? This desk is free, you can come over._ That was fortunate for Lyfrassir, because many people lost their homes and documents in the fight, so no one will notice when they appear out of nowhere. _Sir? Are you okay?_ They found a support program for people damaged by the war, which included restoration of documents - just what they needed. 

So now they just had to apply for- uh. Lyfrassir noticed that the person at the desk was staring at them with a worried expression. 

"Sorry?" Lyfrassir asked, confused. 

"I asked if you were okay. Are you okay? You weren’t responding before."

"Er, no, I just- I mean yes, yes I’m okay. Just got distracted for a moment." They make their way to the desk. "I would like to have my documents restored? Lost them with all the fighting."

"Right, let me get the form."

***

When Lyfrassir exits the administrative center, temporary ID in hand, their only wish is to find a place to sleep, so they set out to find the cheapest motel in town, maybe even getting some money on their way. 

They end up in a tiny room they rented for a week. It’s untidy and old, but the only thing Lyfrassir cares about is that there is a bed. They crash on the sheets and are sleeping within seconds. 

For the first time in many years, the nightmares they see are their own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This concept lived in my head rent-free for a few weeks now, I’m so exited to see what you think!!!


	4. Twisted Threads/Stranger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time passes, curious things happen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the comments and kudos and everything else :) 
> 
> Not sure what else to say... enjoy this chapter!

Eventually, Lyfrassir was able to get used to their new life. It was harder in the beginning, when their main source of income was pickpocketing, the jobs they got were shitty and the culture was sometimes very hard to understand. They also spaced out a lot - Lyfrassir suspected that it was a consequence of living in a literal nightmare and having to block out the screams and disgusting sounds coming from all directions. To anyone who asks though, it’s trauma from the revolution. 

Over time they learn how to work around inconveniences like that and are able to get better and better jobs. They mostly work at shops and stores, which is good because they don’t need any qualifications or background but is also bad because having to deal with people every day is exhausting. They eventually start looking for quieter places, which ends up in Lyfrassir working in a music store. Not many people come in usually, and the bell above the door has a weird enough sound that Lyfrassir notices it almost every time and don’t have to constantly focus on their surroundings, so they enjoy the job much more than the previous ones. The other employees are pleasant too and also start calling them Lyf, which is a very nice shorthand. The only drawback is that their boss is an absolute asshole, but that’s something to bond over with their colleagues. 

All in all it’s... enjoyable. Even if Lyf struggles sometimes, even if they wake up in cold sweat every night, even if the empty void inside them sometimes feels like it will pull them in entirely, the horrors plaguing their life are, for once, only nightmares and won’t hurt anyone anymore. They do their research, and it seems that no matter how hard they look, eldritch horror gods are just not a thing here, or at least they don’t have avatars. The knowledge doesn’t help with the nightmares, but it’s a nice thought to keep in mind on bad days. 

Occupied with getting used to safety and peace, Lyf forgets that Midgard itself is far from peace. Sure, the revolution is over, and in the few years that have passed society has been actively healing and rebuilding, but there is the matter of the bandits. Namely, the Bifrost Marauders, as the press had named them, a chaotic, cryptic gang of indeterminate size that wrecks havoc wherever and whenever they please. From what Lyf knows, they terrorize most of the Yggdrasil system, which makes the chance of actually encountering them very low. 

Low, but not zero. 

It happened some six or seven years after Lyfrassir came to Midgard, on a Tuesday. It was early afternoon, their boss had just shouted at them for no particular reason before leaving, the shop was empty and there was not much to do, so Lyf was scrolling through their news feed, still quite a bit angry. They notice an emergency news report about a new attack of the Bifrost Marauders. And- shit. It’s in their town. 

In that moment, the front door slams open, startling Lyf, and three of the most bizarre looking people they have seen on Midgard enter.   
One of them has a weird singular goggle, a green coat and a spiked helmet, another appears to be entirely made of fucking metal wearing a top hat and proper goggles, and the third one looks almost normal in comparison, but the fact that she is with the others is concerning by itself. The word ‘steampunk’ comes to mind from Lyf’s database of a memory, and they have to admit that with how the bandits look, that is a very accurate description. 

"Greetings, mortal!" The one with the helmet begins, swinging around his gun, "We’re in need of instruments, so we’ll borrow some if we find any good ones!"

The other two are already examining the store, completely ignoring Lyf. Metal man seems to be talking with the normal-looking one, pointing at some banjos. 

"Say, does this place have any good violins?" helmet man continues. "A certain bastard I know broke my last one."

"Uh. Depends on what you’re looking for. We have some here and there are a few in the back. Feel free to ask if you want details."

"Something durable," The man sounds bitter, and his companions snicker behind his back. "Other than that - no preference. Well, aside from having a good sound."

While the bandit is speaking, Lyf, still angry at their boss, has an idea. 

"I can do that, but could you take out the cameras first? Don’t want the higher-ups to know."

"Ooh, no problem at all!" The eye that’s not obscured with the goggle lights up with surprise and curiosity. He swiftly turns on his heels and with a steady hand shoots every visible camera in the store. While he’s busy, Lyf walks over to one of the storefronts and carefully removes a beautiful electric violin, a dark, elegant thing, one of the most expensive things in the store. Their boss will be pissed. 

"Here," they say, handing over the violin and holding in a mischievous smile. The bandit gently takes the instrument from their hands, and Lyf only now notices the metal hand. 

"She’s gorgeous, just what I needed. Thanks," the man says, examining the violin. "I gotta say, you’re much cooler than the other mortals ‘round here, do you need me to shoot anything else for you, uh," he glances at their nametag, "Lyfrassir? Like, maybe tomorrow evening?"

"Alright, Marius, that’s enough flirting with mortals for today," the normal-looking bandit drags helmet man (Marius?) to the exit. The metal guy follows, holding a banjo in one hand, but stops before the counter and places a fucking bar of gold on top. 

"Stealing is wrong," he explains in a oddly human voice, "thank you for your service."

And just like that, the Marauders head out. Lyf only fully realizes that they were just flirted with when Marius gives them a wink before disappearing behind the door. They are... very unused to things like that. They absentmindedly file away the name in their memory. 

***

The gold bar really subdues their boss’s anger, even if they are furious about the violin and the banjo. It did get filed as an armed robbery, and everyone knows the Bifrost Marauders are no joke, so no one really blames Lyfrassir.

They keep working at the shop for a few more years, and at some point their coworkers, mostly musicians themselves, bully them into taking some music classes. Lyf chooses the cello and ends up enjoying it quite a lot. They’re not good at it - they never had much talent in music, and the almost faded burn on their main hand still affects their motor skills, but they don’t mind and keep practicing Midgardian folk song renditions and classic pieces. 

Sometimes at home they try playing whatever Earth music they have archived in their memory. 

One day they find themselves staring in the mirror, looking at the same face they saw sixteen or so years ago when they first moved in this flat. Lyf has to finally admit that whatever leftover eldritch powers they had, not aging was one of them. Not too exiting, there were days where they were Very Tired of existing for so long, but they were too curious about life to do something about it. 

The idea to move so people won’t notice them not aging actually came from a young adult book about vampires or something, but there wasn’t anyone around to call them out on that and in the end, it worked just right. Redacting the details in their documents took some hacking and forgery, but a few months later they were once again in their twenties, according to their ID (they didn’t bother changing their name). Lyf quit their job, promised to keep in contact with their friends, packed their cello and some other belongings and moved almost to the other side of the planet. They never answered any calls and texts before changing their number. 

This time they had money and documents with them, so after some contemplation, Lyfrassir went to college, got a degree in library sciences and proceeded to work in a library for some twenty years. It is a much more pleasant job, quiet and not tied to daily human interaction as much as their previous ones, and over the years they get to consume every book the library has to offer, which is a lot. It does little to satisfy the gnawing emptiness inside, but it’s not like Lyf is trying hard at this point. 

Not much happenes over the years. Shortly after they move, the Bifrost Marauders finally get captured after twenty years of wreaking havoc in Yggdrasil. From the front page of the news article three smiling faces stare at them, though Lyf is only familiar with two of them. There is no sign of the robot man, instead, a winged woman with a mad spark in her eyes stands next to Marius. It’s a curious detail, but it doesn’t really matter anymore, unless there is more than four of them out there. 

Another notable, although much less pleasant event was the day they found out that lack of aging was not the only parting gift of their long-dead god. 

Lyf doesn’t even remember the exact question they asked that set it off, but they clearly remember the forgotten taste of static on their tongue as the person they were talking to gave a slightly more detailed answer than was necessary. Next thing they knew, they were having a panic attack in a narrow alleyway a few blocks away. The following month was miserable, but once Lyfrassir figured out just how weak their compulsion was, they were able to approach it with a clearer mind. 

Simple tests showed that their compulsion only prompted people to speak coherently and in more detail, it was easily resisted without people noticing it, though it worked better if the question brought up unpleasant subjects and memories. Compelling people to talk actually eased the void inside Lyf, but very slightly and not for long. All in all, it wasn’t as bad as it could be, even if the soft prickle of static makes them freeze for a second sometimes. 

Years go on, Lyfrassir spends a few more decades fucking around in libraries and archives all around Midgard, reading and archiving anything they can get their hands on out of pure habit until they eventually get bored. 

They get into the police academy almost as a joke, but it ends up being better than horrible, which was what they expected. It’s not that police in Midguard is particularly good - far from that, to be honest, - but Lyf realizes that they will get to Ask uncomfortable questions, get access to police records and, if they choose their specialization carefully, not interact with too many people. It doesn’t hurt to try either way - after all, they have all the time in this world. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit: typos


	5. Person Of Interest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Opinions on one Lyfrassir Edda and descriptions of odd happenings featuring them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Your comments fill my heart with joy and the will to write on (which is why this chapter is out so soon).  
> Thank you :)
> 
> TW: mean police people but nothing too wild (if you want to skip, it’s the section between the first and the second ‘***’)

Bjarni went into the police academy because xe wanted to help people. Sure, from what xe knew, a lot of cops were awful, but Bjarni also believed that xe could make a difference for someone, however small. 

The other students were there for all kinds of reasons: some, too, genuinely wanted to help, some wanted privilege and money, some were pressured by parents. It wasn’t hard to guess why someone studied here if you knew what behavior to look for, and Bjarni was pretty proud of xyrs observation skills. 

One person xe couldn’t figure out, however, was a certain Lyfrassir Edda, with whom Bjarni attended most lectures. Lyfrassir - Lyf for short - somehow managed to seem both very mysterious and extremely boring. They rarely interacted with other students, usually quietly sitting in the back of the room, but did well in all subjects. Lyf lacked the energy of those who were seeking power, the drive of those who wanted to do justice and Bjarni didn’t want to intrude by asking them personal questions directly. 

There was also their appearance. Lyf usually wore sweater vests and white shirts, which made them look like an academic or a librarian (pretty boring), but up close there were hundreds of faded scars all over their skin - a weird contrast. The most noticeable one was their right hand, apparently burned a long time ago. When Bjarni first shook hands with Edda, xe almost flinched because of the smooth, uncanny texture. Then there was the slash on their throat, creepy and ominous, but the color of the scar tissue suggested that the dozens of circular marks on Lyf’s skin were in fact also scars and not weird freckles or birthmarks. Bjarni didn’t want to know how many more scars were hidden under those shirts and vests. 

Almost creepier than the scars themselves was the fact that they shouldn’t have been that faded if Edda was really in their twenties. Or Lyf got them at an unreasonably (terrifyingly) young age. Bjarni couldn’t imagine what their school years were like, when their scars stood out more. 

Aside from that, Lyf was pretty cool, if a bit quiet. They were smart and knew a lot - xe once asked them if they knew how to pay taxes as a joke and received a comprehensive guide with mentions of minor loopholes and ways to efficiently manage the paperwork. Maybe their parents were thoughtful like that and made sure to explain taxes to Lyf, but that still was an unusual thing to know in such detail at their age. 

A much more creepy incident happened in xyr last year, when Bjarni managed to drag Lyf out to a Samhain celebration with other students. Everyone got drunk, as these things usually went (even Edda was tipsy), and the traditional rituals were finished, so most people gathered in smaller circles to tell stories and reflect upon the year. The group Bjarni was in was telling ghost stories in hushed voices. Bjarni didn’t actually notice that Lyf was also there until it was their turn and they cleared their throat. Everyone went quiet, eager to hear another story, and they began to speak. 

No one discussed what happened that night, not with Bjarni at least, but xe could tell that xe wasn’t the only one haunted by nightmares. Lyfrassir didn’t stop on one tale then, they just kept going and Bjarni personally didn’t remember anything else until xe woke up in the morning in cold sweat. Every story was different, and not every one was very scary to xyr, but then, not all of them were even meant for xyr. Bjarni spent xyrs dreams suffocating in tiny passageways and concrete prisons, while Ulf from criminal law kept drawing eyes in his notes and crossing them out with slightly shaking hands, and Sigyn from traffic enforcement refused to stay in unlit rooms or dark areas and started carrying a small flashlight with her. Out of all the people who heard the stories that night, only Edda seemed unaffected. Bjarni wandered how much trauma they had to get through to get that fucked up. You couldn’t make up stuff like that, let alone describe it in a way that shook so many different people that deep. 

The nightmares only got better near the end of the year, but they never really went away. 

Bjarni didn’t dislike Lyfrassir Edda like others seemed to do after that night, but xe was happy that they ended up working in different cities and never had to see each other again. 

***

Edda was a prick. Geirvaldr has been working as a traffic officer for three years now but had yet to see someone more stuck up and proper. Honestly, it’s not like they’re the Valkyries here - it’s the godsdamn transport department, they can break a few rules and guidelines here and there! 

It’s not like Edda likes the job, anyway - he can see it in their eyes. But alas, the bastard thinks it’s their duty to remind Geirvaldr every time he violates a rule or overcharges a parking ticket. Their boss loves them, of course he does. Every report done neatly and in time. Did Edda even have a fucking life outside the station? They certainly never went out drinking with the others, something about an incident at college. Geirvaldr was certain that Edda just thought they were too good to hang out with the others. Like he said, a prick. 

He tried to confront them about it once. Edda just couldn’t go on like that, one day they were going to run into someone who wouldn’t put up with their bullshit and get hurt. Or maybe Geirvaldr was hoping they would annoy him enough to justify hitting them in the face. 

"Will you ever stop this bullshit," he said when Edda once again pointed out an unfair charge, "I’m so fucking sick of you, Edda, I swear, just shut up for once and let me do my job."

"I’d be happy to if you bothered to do it right," they answered, calmly. "And if being annoyed by me will be the thing that will make you follow the rules, well. That’d be good, wouldn’t it?"

Geirvaldr clenched his fists, face reddening with rage. 

"Calm down. I think I’ll be transferred soon, and you’ll be left to violate protocol in peace. That is, unless I mention it to anyone. You wouldn’t want something like that to be _known,_ would you?"

He could see them holding in a smile. Motherfucker. Geirvaldr should’ve expected something like that from a person like Edda, although it was odd that they haven’t told anyone earlier. Doesn’t matter. 

He spits on the ground and marches away. 

Edda got transferred to the New Midgard Transport Police offices a few weeks after that. It was more of a promotion, but Geirvaldr couldn’t bring himself to care. 

***

In the fifty-two years of their imprisonment, the Mechanisms became another constant in the main Transport Police office. The tap in the third floor restroom leaked, the heating sometimes broke in the winter and the three infamous bandits lived in a cell downstairs, annoying guards and other prisoners alike. They were kept for their expertise in technology and crime in general, so all guards and inspectors were used to them, but every new hire or intern got sent to the Mechs - fun for both the guards and the prisoners, even if it got a bit repetitive after half a century. 

So Ivy wasn’t surprised to hear that a newly transferred inspector will be visiting them. 

She did not, however, expect to recognize their face. 

The person that entered the room was short (but taller than Marius, maybe 5’7"?), dark-skinned, had long black hair streaked with strands of silver, tied in a casual braid, and piercing green eyes. They also looked pretty surprised to see the Mechanisms, but not in the way other people usually were - maybe recognizing them in turn?

"Good morning, you seem to be new here!" - well, Marius didn’t seem to remember the inspector. 

"Right. Uh. My name is Lyfrassir Edda," they give a worried look in Marius’ direction, "Inspector Third Class, they/them pronouns. I will be asking you some questions regarding technological aspects of a device the police has discovered."

Ivy had definitely seen this person before, but where? Certainly not in the prison, and not from the few times the Mechs broke out. Keeping in mind the average Midgardian lifespan and the fact that they looked middle-aged at best, there was a 0.06% chance she had seen them before the imprisonment, and other scenarios were even less likely. She would have to comb through her memory later. 

Meanwhile, Inspector Edda already retrieved an obscure heap of metal, wires and tubes for the Mechs to examine. From what Ivy could see, most likely a bomb, but that was Raphaella’s field of knowledge, so Ivy resigned to watching the conversation from a distance, paying close attention to the Inspector. 

Sadly, the discussion is mostly technical, so there is not much Ivy can learn about Lyfrassir. They do seem smart, quickly catching the core mechanics of the bomb and never asking to repeat anything. At some point, however, Marius decides that a song will be a great way of explaining explosives, and whips out his violin out of nowhere, as he usually does. Ivy is already reaching for her flute to join in when she notices the way the Inspector is looking at the violin, surprised - nothing unusual here - but also also almost scared? Or worried. Or embarrassed? Ivy wasn’t good at emotions. 

They quickly shut down the musical number, confiscating Marius’ violin (taking it gently, though), and leave soon after. Marius has a weird expression on his face, but that’s pretty normal. 

Ivy curls up in her corner of the cell and starts the monotonous process of remembering every person she ever met, beginning with the most recent. When, an hour of working and fifty years worth of memories later she finds nothing, Ivy has to admit that she probably met the Inspector before the prison, which is both unusual and tiring as the Mechanisms met a lot more people while they hopped all over Yggdrasil than when they were passing time in a prison cell. 

Somewhere around midnight, when Marius is already sleeping and Raph is gently humming a tune and scratching formulas into the wall, Ivy jolts upright with a smile. Raphaella turns to her with a questioning look. 

"I found them," Ivy explains. "Sixty three years ago, when Jonny broke Marius’ violin." 

Raphaella’s eyes widen with surprise and curiosity. 

"But they don’t even look-"

"That’s right, they looked the same then. They didn’t even change their name."

"I knew they recognized you two! Wait, don’t tell me that the violin?.."

"Exactly. The Inspector just gave it to Marius then, didn’t even look scared." Ivy leaned closer to Raph and whispered, " _And Marius flirted with them_."

"No way... did you see how he looked at them today? I say two weeks before he admits he has a crush."

"A month." The chance of Marius admitting his feelings before that is 24.31%, rising to a 43.72% after. 

"Deal. We’re not telling him about Edda, right?"

"Absolutely not."

***

Ivy ends up winning that bet. Inspector Edda (or Lyf, as Marius starts calling them) visits them a few more times before getting assigned to the Mechanisms, as they prove to be much more productive when dealing with the bandits than anyone else has been. Lyf doesn’t seem too comfortable with that, nervous to be around other immortals, as Ivy suspects, so they try to be stern and professional. They end up looking disheveled, tired and unfriendly, though, which only earns more longing sighs from Marius. 

There was another odd interaction regarding the violin. A week into their work with the Mechs, during a different series of questions, Marius once again pulls out his violin - the one Inspector Lyf confiscated just a few days ago, - and launches into another song. 

"Wait, wait, stop, stop singing!" They yell, both annoyed by the song and weirded out by seeing the violin in Marius’ hands. "There is absolutely no reason to sing! And, and _where did you get the violin?!_ "

"Ah, is it out again?" Marius, as usual, is also surprised to see it in his hands. "I don’t know, it just appears sometimes." He frowns a bit, almost like he wasn’t expecting to say that. 

"Ah, I know the feeling," Lyf says to themselves, words almost indiscernible, but Ivy hears them. Their face has a weird expression. "Sorry for asking that. Would you like me to tell you when it’s out, though?"

Very suspicious, but Lyfrassir already seems to have a lot of mysteries and Stories tied to them. Ivy hopes she can hear them one day. 

"I think I have a fucking crush on a mortal space cop”, Marius says one day in despair, a month and a day after they meet Inspector Edda for the first (kind of) time. Raph laughs and passes Ivy a few coins. They never tell him that Lyf is probably not as mortal as he thinks (and that he actually met them before).

Years pass quickly as always, the Inspector grows on the three Mechanisms and they seem to grow on them too. Lyf loosens up a bit and even laughs at some of Marius’ jokes, which, judging by the data Ivy stole from hacked security cameras, isn’t something Lyfrassir does with anyone else. The Mechs, in turn, break out of prison more, just to make life fun for Lyf and to sneak something nice they stole in their desk. Lyf never brings up any of their gifts but does look a bit happier every time they get one. 

Marius still pines, but doesn’t suffer as much anymore (at least, he looks like he doesn’t), and instead has fun annoying Inspector Lyf with songs, violin music and any other thing they might find distracting and unprofessional. 

Lyf mostly works with the Mechanisms, being the only one who could actually get them to share useful information, but sometimes gets other jobs, disappearing for a few days or even weeks only to return more sleep-deprived and grumpy than usual. They do seem to like the job, though, and are apparently very valued by their bosses for their productivity and work ethic. And even if Lyf prefers taking notes and making reports in audio format on an ancient magnet card recorder they dug out from gods know where and sometimes look through files they’re not supposed to see... well, the administration likes the results of their work enough to ignore that. 

So it isn’t a surprise when they go missing again, assigned to a new difficult case. Ivy doesn’t even bother checking what it is, expecting to hear all about it from Inspector Edda themselves. 

However, when they stagger into the prison block in the middle of the night with a messy braid, dark circles under their eyes, and a suspicious box in their hands, Ivy suddenly remembers what the Mechanisms were waiting for all these years on Midgard. This Story’s culmination was close, and she could feel it’s rising tension in the air.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy I wonder what happens next....


	6. Black Box

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A mysterious decade-old case finally being solved?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You all know what’s going to happen :)
> 
> (very minor spoilers)  
> TW: TBI-typical bullshit, loss of control, panic attacks (all after the interaction from Expert Testimony and until the end)

Contrary to what others may believe, Lyf actively seeks out interesting and obscure cases to work through. Their bosses would be happy enough even if they just kept working with the Mechanisms (their real name, apparently), but Lyf kind of enjoys chasing answers and working all night until their body starts giving out, combing through records (mostly, mentally) and sometimes even Asking people, just to feel the rush of getting the solution to the mystery. Such cases don’t appear too often, so their body gets to rest and doesn’t suffer as much. 

So when the remains of the Ratatosk express appear out of nowhere and crash through the long-closed Midgardian Bifrost station, Lyf knows they _need to_ get assigned to the case. 

They try not to look too eager when talking to their boss about it. 

That evening Lyf returns home with the Black Box in their bag. They make an effort of actually eating before taking the box out, since they know they are unlikely to bother to when they’re deep in research. They set out a notebook (just in case, but they probably were not going to need it), a few books on Yggdrasil pre-revolution history and the Bifrost Incident itself, all written right after the war and, as far as Lyf knew, pretty accurate. Finally, they slide an empty disc in the magnet disc recorder and turn it on. The gentle hum of the machine is nothing like the soft whisper of static in a tape recorder, but this is the best they could get on Midgard. It works fine for them, anyway, never once breaking in the seven years they had it (the supply of discs also doesn’t seem to end, but Lyf knows better than to question that). 

"The Bifrost Incident. Any schoolchild could tell you about it - the fall of the old order, two hundred years of Asgardian hubris come together in a single epoch-defining event." Lyf was aware that their reports were, perhaps, a bit more story-like than would’ve been appropriate, but the cases they worked on usually deserved that kind of approach. This one, whatever the answer ends up being, definitely does. Lyf can feel it. 

As they speak, they carefully connect the Black Box to a tablet and open the files with camera recordings. Another useful skill they had from taking real-time statements of the world around them was the ability to record the report in parallel with watching the recording. Sure, sometimes they had to add details or edit something out, but overall it made working with recordings take much less time. They take a few seconds to figure out the order of the recordings and start with the beginning - Odin’s speech. 

"...Not rambling on about the glories of her pet science project, as though exporting quicker tyranny to Midgard was all she’d ever dreamed of." The words flow freely, with almost no conscious input from Lyf. "There’s something about how she speaks, though, and I know the look in her eyes. She’s hiding something, some master plan. Whatever she was preparing, it wasn’t good, but she was sure she would succeed." They pause, trying to ignore the memory of the other person with the same glint in his eyes. "And the Ratatosk express launches."

"...under seventy two hours - that’s how long the journey was supposed to take, though no one left living knows why." Even right after the war no one had any idea how the train or the Bifrost was supposed to work. "There’s a lot of corruption in the recording and picking out clear words and images is difficult at best." The static in the sound and video is almost mocking. 

Odin still acts weird, but she keeps quiet and Lyf has no way to know what exactly is on her mind. When they notice Loki, however, they feel like they might have found a clue. 

At this point anyone else would have brought up the fact that Loki was a terrorist, blame her for the incident and call it a day. But she was supposed to be dead, and didn’t look like she was in a state to sabotage anything. As someone who was involved with the train, her expertise could be valuable even after she left, and keeping her alive while staging an execution was definitely something Odin had the power to do. 

Seeing Thor being provoked by the Allmother and then noticing Sigyn and other rebels in the staff, mysteriously unnoticed by Odin and other train managers, only solidified Lyf’s suspicions. With every moment of discernible recordings they felt like they were looking at a warped and altered retelling of their own Story, forgotten names and faces resurfacing in their memory. At this point they were certain that Odin planned the sabotage, but what was she trying to achieve? Did something go wrong? Did she succeed?

The static got worse with every minute, whole cameras shutting off. Lyf was getting more and more agitated, something was wrong here, something was very wrong, or else Odin wouldn’t look so smug staring at the camera for ten full minutes, burning the image of her face in Lyf’s memory. They don’t notice as they start pacing around the room, struggling to find any intact data. 

Eventually, they pause the recording and use whatever tools they have at home to try and restore the footage, but the knowledge of all humanity didn’t include Asgardian technology, and Lyf never did anything similar themselves. 

By the time they give up, it’s almost three in the morning. They don’t care, though, they need to know _now_ , and if it means they will be waking up the Mechanisms, they don’t care. Lyf throws on a coat, shoves the Black Box back in their bag along with the tablet and marches into the night, explaining their actions to the recorder as they go. 

***

"Ah! Good morning, Inspector Lyf!" Well, seems like everyone is awake already. 

"Von Raum."

"And what can we do for you on this fine prison day?" It’s three AM. 

"Is it about the case you’re on?" Raphaella chimes in. "Care to tell what it is about?"

"It’s the Bifrost, isn’t it?" Ivy says, gaining worried looks from the other two. "The train must’ve arrived."

"Ah, yes, just yesterday morning, it’s all over the news." Ivy probably gained access to the internet again. 

"Oh, then, we should be going!"

"Really? Why? _Do you know something about it?_ " Lyf felt bad Asking people they liked (and they had to admit they got quite fond of them over the years), but they _really_ needed to get all the information. 

"Well then, we shall tell you!" The violin is out faster than Lyf can react in their sleep-deprived state and the other two Mechanisms join in the song. " ** _Like whiskey laced with gasoline, we’ll-_** "

" _Shut up! Shut! Up!_ No singing, I don’t have _time_ for your singing. Von Raum, you have the violin out again."

"Ooh!"

"Just- I can do it myself, I have the black box right here, it’s just too corrupted," they admit. "I was hoping you could help."

"Oh, is that all? Ivy?"

"Sure, give me a few minutes."

Ten minutes later, Lyf gets out a quick ‘thank you’ and rushes out, the repaired black box in hand, not even bothering with returning home. Their quick steps echo through the empty dark hallways as Lyf speeds towards their office, connecting the box to their tablet again, eager to see its secrets. 

Deep down, right near the void inside them, they have an awful feeling about what’s going to happen. It does nothing to fight off the curiosity. 

***

"Right, pack up and we’ll be going," Raph says when the echo of the Inspector’s footsteps dies down. She is already opening a hatch in the wall and taking out a few vials with suspicious substances and some notebooks filled with formulas. 

"Already?" Marius asks, still worried about the manic glint in Lyf’s eyes. 

"Yes," Ivy answers, gathering her little book collection, "there’s a 68.43% chance this world won’t die right now, but I can’t say I’m certain. Better get out now and don’t get caught up in the chaos."

"Besides, it’s the middle of the night, there are less people to bother us."

"But- what about-" Marius doesn’t finish. Caring about mortals like Lyf is pointless in the end, and he already earned a few centuries of bullying by having a crush, trying to save them will only make it worse. 

"I’m pretty sure they’ll be just fine," Raphaella says, patting him on the shoulder. "Now let’s go."

She approaches the bars and carefully applies one of her acids to them, the metal immediately hissing and starting to melt - a relatively slow process, but it’s quiet and will let them escape without too big of a fight. 

Raphaella is almost done when the world around them shudders. Marius can feel the fabric of reality warp and tear, only slightly at first, but rapidly getting more intense. 

"Shit! Come on, hurry up!" Raphaella crawls through the still narrow opening, ignoring the burns the acid leaves on her. Ivy goes next, passing the books first, and Marius has no choice but to follow. 

As they run through the corridors, all surprisingly empty even considering the early hour, they keep feeling the world shift and rip and change, and Marius gets more and more nervous. Would Lyf be able to get away in time? Would Lyf suffer if they couldn’t? Would Lyf suffer for an eternity? Would they blame him for leaving them in the chaos? Ivy and Raph don’t even look concerned, which isn’t uncharacteristic, but Marius can’t relate this time. 

By the time they reach the exit, he can’t take it anymore and doesn’t care if it’s pointless. 

"Fucking hell! You go, I’ll catch up or something," he doesn’t even hear if they answer as he runs off back into the building. 

It’s eerily quiet, and Marius isn’t even sure if Lyf stayed, but, judging by their look back in the cell block, searching in the offices is his best bet. As Marius approaches Lyf’s office, he hears the familiar hum of the Inspector’s voice, sounding pretty calm. 

When he opens the door, however, he sees Lyf curled up in a corner of the room, shaking, with tears running down their face. Their eyes are vacant, staring into nothing, and their voice is steady, sounding wrong compared to how they look. In their hands, the Black Box. They don’t react to Marius entering. 

"Inspector?" No response. 

_"...the arcane glyphs and gears spinning dry, as all that protected and powered the train bleeds away..."_

"Lyf, can you hear me?"

Marius comes closer, slowly, and reaches out to touch them. Lyf flinches, hard, but then shoots out a hand to grab Marius’. They only find metal, as it’s the mechanical one, but they trace it up until they find the point where mechanism met flesh and latch onto that like they’re drowning. 

_"...and as the blood laps at their boots in a shallow crimson tide, Thor turns and walks away to do his work."_

"Fuck. Alright, let’s get you out of here." Marius pulls them up, and thankfully, they seem to understand what he’s doing, getting up on their feet, holding his hand tightly, but not letting go of the black box. 

Marius takes Lyf’s free hand with his flesh hand and places the metal one on their shoulder to better guide them through the hallways. It’s not ideal, with Lyf being taller than him, but it’ll have to do. There is no way they’ll be getting in time to the getaway ship the Mechanisms stole once since it’s very unlikely that Ivy and Raph will be waiting for him long enough, so he’ll have to figure out something else. Marius heads out of the office and towards the hangars with confiscated ships. Thank fuck they were in the transport police and not somewhere else. 

" _...but her new throat cannot scream  
as Odr, her husband, fades as though a dream..."_ With how quiet it is, Marius can’t ignore Lyf’s words. They’re unnerving, but he also has to admit that there is some rhythm and melody to them. It still hurts to see them in this state. 

He shoots any locks on doors, throwing them open as he marches forward. 

_"At the observation window, Odin watches untouched by the chaos."_

By the time they reach the hangars, Marius can hear screams, explosions and other indescribable sounds coming from the outside. Lyf stopped crying, but they’re still shaking in his hands. Marius shoots the panel that controls the gates and one of them starts opening. He chooses a ship that doesn’t look too shitty and drags Lyf inside. 

_"Envy your dead for now unfurled this madness follows to consume you..."_

Marius has to let go of them here, and they stay standing, looking lost and terrified, but never once stop talking. The sight breaks his heart, but they have to get out. 

He is no starship pilot, but he knows how to hotwire and pilot a mecha, so that should mean he can manage the controls. Marius kicks open the control panel, finds some appropriate-looking cables and, to his surprise, the ship lights up and hums with power when he connects them. Now to figure out the controls. 

_"They steel themselves, and advance."_

The main buttons and levers had to be the bigger ones, right? With a combination of applying knowledge of mecha piloting and dumb luck, Marius gets the ship to start the engines and lift off. At least the steering part seemed a bit more intuitive. 

_"At the door to Odin’s cabin, Thor emerges from the fray."_

Scraping the ground and tearing out a bit of the wall, the ship flies out into the chaos of the street. Fires are already burning, black splotches of oily mass sprout tentacles and things that once might have been Midgardian people now scream and twist and fight and destroy. Marius barely has time to steer the ship upward to avoid hitting something that looked like a wall. The night sky was stained with rainbow hues. 

_"...but any window with a hammer is also an emergency exit."_ Damn, Marius didn’t quite catch the context, but that was a good line. 

Luckily, whatever eldritch horror was loose on Midgard, it didn’t have the time to fully corrupt the skies, so once Marius flies above the city, not much is blocking the way. A few minutes later, they’re already out of the atmosphere. 

_"She is fled by the things she passes, who recognise one touched by the outer gods."_

Marius thinks he figured out where the autopilot controls are so he tries his best to set a course to ‘out of here at max speed’. It takes some time, but eventually the ship hums and slightly changes the direction without any input from Marius, who takes that as a success. He steps away from the control panel, trying not to touch any more buttons. 

_"Sigyn pushes a single line into her wife's heart and holds it tight."_

Right. Marius returns to where Lyf is now sitting on the floor, hugging their knees, streaks of tears once again crossing their face. He gets down near them and slowly puts an arm over their shoulders, giving enough time to back away from the touch if they don’t want it. Lyf doesn’t react, voice still steady, almost like a recording. 

_"...the train will arrive, but until then, they are together."_ Pause. The black box hits the floor with a loud clang. 

Lyf is silent for a long moment before they choke out a sob that is, for once, their own and break down. 

"No, n-no, please, I, I c-can’t do this again, this can’t b-be real, _not again_ , p-please, no, no," they’re fully weeping now, and Marius can’t do anything but hold them and ask them to breathe. 

Behind the ship something explodes with an otherworldly screech, and the edges of the front window are filled with technicolor swirls of matter. Marius didn’t quite plan beyond this (hell, he wasn’t sure if he even had a plan in the first place), but he got Lyf out of the Bifrost and he can deal with the rest later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lyf: if I had a nickel for every time I got caught up in eldritch bullshit, lost control of my voice only to end up summoning unimaginable horrors through an incantation thus ending the world I’d have two nickels.  
> Lyf: which is not a lot but it’s weird that it happened twice.  
> Lyf: please help I have trauma. 
> 
> I feel like Raphaella and Ivy leaving is a tiny bit ooc but I needed plot to happen, sorry.
> 
> Thanks for reading!  
> As always, I’m fueled by all your comments :)  
> Please tell me if I forgot a TW or a tag!


	7. Lost In The Cosmos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stranded together in space

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I crave validation so I bring you this chapter before I finish the next one. Enjoy!
> 
> As always, thanks for the comments! They mean a lot :)

Marius doesn’t realize he fell asleep until he wakes up lying on the floor, limbs numb from the uncomfortable position. Lyf is still sitting near, quiet now, but seemingly awake, and the only sound on the ship is the muffled rumble of the engines. 

Marius gets up with a groan and goes to check the control panel. It’s not that he expects to understand any readings or indicators, he just doesn’t want to bother Lyf and there is not much else to do. No lights or screens seem to be flashing red and the rainbow colors of the Bifrost visible from the front window don’t cover the way the ship is going, so all seems to be well. 

He returns to Lyf. They’re sitting straight, staring into nothing again, but their eyes look weird - swirls of maddening colors where pupils used to be. 

"Lyf, are you alright? Can you hear me?" No response. 

They don’t react when Marius touches them, either, but at least they don’t look distressed anymore. He decides to give Lyf some space (it’s not like he knows any way to help them) and instead explore the ship he stole, anxiety and worry powering his restlessness. 

Marius starts with the bridge, since he doesn’t want to leave the Inspector alone right away, and studies the many panels, screens, wires and buttons surrounding the room. Some have neat shapes and colors, but they don’t hold his attention for long. Marius then remembers that this ship was probably used for contraband, and proceeds to unscrew all vents and suspicious panels in search for any secrets. He is rewarded by a few well-hidden bottles of whiskey and mead, some shitty guns and an incomplete deck of playing cards. 

The booze he stashes in one of the more accessible vents for later, and the guns are left somewhere in a corner (there’s no one to play hide-and-shoot or other games with, he doesn’t want to startle Lyf and besides, his own gun is much better). The cards are good for some card houses (though he cannot build the Tower Of Doom or the Full Fucking House without the whole deck) but are also eventually abandoned. Marius really, really hopes the rest of the deck can be found somewhere else on the ship. 

When, an indeterminate amount of time later there’s nothing left to fuck around with on the bridge, Marius takes out his violin. He still doesn’t want to leave Lyf alone, so ship exploration will have to wait. He tunes the instrument and begins playing Old King Cole, planning to go through all the albums they have written again and again until something worthwhile happens. His personal record was three days, though back then he just died of hunger and dehydration. The songs with multiple vocal parts are the hardest, but Marius just sings whatever character he feels like doing at the time. 

His marathon is cut short just as reaches Favoured Son for the first time, a sudden immaterial weight settling over Marius and making him miss a note. He looks around trying to locate the source of the pressure only to find that Lyf has shifted, now staring at him, the rainbow bullshit still in their eyes. 

"Uh, is everything okay?"

Maybe they’re like mad at him or something. They had almost never let him play the violin and sing back in prison, although to be honest Marius was mostly trying to annoy them then.

"Lyf? Look, I don’t know if you want me to stop or not." Silence. "I’ll just... keep going then?"

Yet again, Lyf doesn’t react, so Marius cautiously starts playing again. The pressure doesn’t go anywhere, but over time Marius gets used to it enough that it doesn’t impact his music as much. Almost feels like performing in front of a big audience, the difference being that there’s just the two of them on the ship. Or maybe the feeling disappears completely, he’s not sure. 

When Marius finishes retelling the City’s and Camelot’s Story, he moves on to the shorter stand-alone tales. Once he’s done with them, too, it’s time to start Once Upon A Time In Space again. As soon as he gets through the first notes, though, he’s interrupted again. 

"You..." A rough, quiet voice, quickly cut off. Marius looks up immediately and sees Lyf, eyes back to normal, covering their mouth with their hands and looking a bit scared. 

"Lyf! Can you hear me?" They nod. "Oh, uh, good. I was worried back there. Are you okay?" They don’t answer immediately, but after a few moments make a ‘so-so’ motion with their hand. Kinda makes sense that they wouldn’t want to speak, they didn’t seem to have any control over their voice yesterday, and it looked unpleasant even from Marius’ perspective.

"Yeah, I get that. I’m, uh, sorry you had to go through all that... stuff." Shit, now they just look sad. He’s an awful psychologist, is he? "You wanted to say something though?"

Lyf gestures for him to come closer, and when Marius is standing beside them, starts tracing letters on the floor with their fingers. _You already played that song_. Marius lets out a laugh, surprised that this is what Lyf wanted to tell him, and Lyf gives him an unimpressed look. 

"Sorry, sorry, just didn’t think you were really listening to the music. I can play something else, these are just our most popular songs. Uh, let me think of a good one."

He picks up the violin again and after a few moments of thinking starts playing a traditional Saxon song. Most of their art was grim and depressing, but the songs had some beautiful melodies. After that he gets through some popular songs from the City, then whatever songs from other places he remembers and lastly, some silly pieces the Mechanisms never performed on public, such as ‘the ballad of Jonny’s crimes’, a ridiculously long song that no one ever played from start to finish. Ivy once calculated that the full thing would take a year and a half to perform. Marius doubted anyone (save Ivy) even knew all the verses, he personally knew forty of fifty but usually played only fifteen or so. 

Marius isn’t sure how much time has passed until he sets the violin down. His throat is sore and his fingers hurt a little, but Lyf is looking at him with a small tired smile that is going to make his heart fucking melt. Marius has to look away both to not end up staring at them awkwardly and to hide the blush that’s creeping up his face. Looking away makes him see the control panel, which reminds him of something. 

"Hey, uh, Lyf? Since you were a transport cop and all, do you have an idea of how to pilot a ship? I set out a course earlier - or I think I did, - could you check if it’s okay and I didn’t break anything?"

They nod and get up, walking over to the control panel, Marius following behind. Lyf looks over all the buttons, flips a few switches Marius didn’t even notice before, changes values on some of the screens but, overall, doesn’t alter much. They tap his shoulder to draw attention and trace, _You did good for someone who doesn’t know the controls_ on the dashboard. Marius is going to die right here and now. 

"Thanks. We should probably get you something to write on, though." Marius doubts he has the patience to consistently pay attention to whatever Lyf is writing. They seem to agree. 

They end up digging through about half the ship before finding a notebook (the police did take most items out) and, besides finding more hidden alcohol, stumble on some rations. Which is good, because food was definitely not something Marius was thinking about when getting out of Midgard. There’s not much, but it’ll last the two of them for a few weeks or more. 

Lunch gradually turns into drinking, which, judging by the amount of alcohol they found will probably become a regular thing. Marius tells them some stories, Lyf writes down some stories for him, too, then cries about their dead world and something else which Marius doesn’t really understand. He comforts them as much as he can, anyway, and the two of them eventually fall asleep on the floor. 

***

They spent the next few days exploring the ship, searching for anything remotely interesting and trying to evaluate the state of their spacecraft. In Lyf’s opinion, it’s relatively shitty, as most contraband ships tended to be, but it hasn’t broken down yet and they were not going to complain. As for the exploration, they almost completed the card deck, found some of the previous crew’s personal belongings and even a stash of contraband goods, overlooked by the police. Sadly, not drugs, but at least they had a lot of alcohol. 

There wasn’t really much to do after that. They mostly played card games, first from Yggdrasil, then from other planets and systems, taught by Marius. Lyf was pretty good, and Marius could swear they must’ve played some of them before if it weren’t for the fact that that was impossible. 

When they got sick of cards, Marius played the violin. Thankfully, millennia of traveling around the universe left him with quite the repertoire, not to mention the pieces he composed himself. 

He had just finished a good ballad when Lyf passes him their notebook. _I’ve been wanting to ask, your violin is seventy years old and you play it so often, how is it in such good shape?_ Okay, Marius could deal with a little eldritch, but how the fuck do they know how old is his violin?

"First of all, I’ve had it for a few centuries, not seventy years. Second-" Lyf pulls the notebook from his hands. 

_Bullshit_ , they write, _I literally handed it to you and it happened seventy one year ago_. 

"What! This- this can’t-" 

_Didn’t Alexandria tell you? I’m pretty sure she and La Cognizi knew_. Marius can feel his brain melting. _You shot the cameras for me, and one of your crew took a banj_ \- he is too busy thinking to be able to read. 

"That would- I- I remember, but you’re saying that was you? Fuck... how old does that make you? Seventy since then so uh.. a century?"

This time they hesitate before answering. _Definitely over a hundred. Other than that - incalculable_. 

"The fuck is that supposed to mean?!"

Lyf’s expression darkens and they shake their head. There’s trauma there, Marius (and every other mechanism) knows this look very well. It takes him a few seconds to come up with a different question, his mind still trying to reload. 

"Okay, so does this make you immortal?" Hopefully this changes the subject enough. 

They take some time to think. _I’m almost certain I’m immortal now. Before all this? My lifespan could’ve just been extended, I don’t know_. Lyf is probably referring to the Bifrost, but that doesn’t make it easier to understand. 

More than that, Marius is now trying to come to terms with the fact that his crush on Lyf isn’t as foolish anymore. Possibly, never has been - Ivy and Raph are so going to die a few times for not telling him. He’s not going to tell Lyf though, no. They’re stranded on a small ship in the middle of nowhere, it would be too awkward if they refuse him. No other reason. 

***

By the second week there is significantly less food and some displays on the bridge have started blinking with worried lights. According to Lyf, they’ll be fine for a few more days, but after that systems might start giving out. Marius isn’t new to this sort of situation, but dying is always unpleasant and he’s still not convinced that Lyf will be fine if anything happens. Luckily, the radar had just caught a signal of what might be another ship in the distance. 

"Say, Inspector, how do you feel about theft and murder?" Lyf turns to him with a curious look. 

_Is there a ship on the radar? Could we try negotiating with them first?_

"How do you keep guessing things, Lyf, it’s so unfair. I guess we could get help the boring way, but if they refuse, I strongly suggest attacking. Loads of fun guaranteed. If you’re okay with that, I mean."

 _Alright, but only if they’re really shitty to us_. Did Lyfrassir Edda just agree to do violent crime with him? Maybe Marius was stuck in the Bifrost in Midgard and was going mad. He didn’t care if this was real, though. 

When the ship is close enough, Lyf sends a distress signal. It’s not answered, but the blip on the radar shows that it is now approaching them. 

"Suspicious," Marius says, readying some of the better guns they found, "Shouldn’t they answer? Ooh, what if they’re pirates coming to Yggdrasil? That would be fun." 

Soon enough, they can see the other vessel through the front window: much bigger than their own, but not very fancy, with signs of a lot of repairing and splashes of bright paint covering it. It still sends no signal, but Marius can feel the floor jerk when it starts pulling them in with a gravity field. 

"Definitely pirates. Here." He hands Lyf two guns and some ammo. After a moment of thinking, he passes them his own gun too. Marius could take out an army with a slingshot if he had enough time, so it’s better if Lyf doesn’t have to bother with shitty guns. 

The two of them hide behind the doors leading to the entrance hatch, guns loaded, waiting for the supposed pirates to enter. For a few minutes, nothing breaks the tense silence. Then, a light blips above the door, apparently a request to open it - Marius sees Lyf press the button to open the door and immediately hide again. 

Another moment of silence, and then five people rush into the room, screaming and laughing, guns out, ready to shoot anyone on sight. Marius looks over to where Lyf is hiding. They nod with the most wicked smile he has ever seen on them and rush out of cover, shooting almost blindly. Marius barely has time to recover from that smile as he steps out too, his metal hand steady as he shoots two of the attackers in the head and ducks to dodge a bullet. Another pirate falls, shot by Lyf, and Marius goes to punch one of the remaining two. No need to end the fun quickly now that they have the advantage. It takes Lyf two shots to bring the other one down and Marius finishes the last pirate with a bullet to their heart. 

The air is ringing with the echo of gunfire, the passageway to the pirate ship open before the two of them. Marius can see Lyf’s hands shaking, but they don’t seem too distressed. 

"You alright?" They nod, eyes wide and pupils dilated with adrenaline. It’s a gorgeous look, and Marius really wishes he could kiss them right now. He smiles at them instead. "Well then, on we go!"

The first few corridors are quiet and empty. They’re headed towards where the bridge should be, since that’s where the rest of the crew (if there even is anyone else) should be. It gets a bit complicated when they reach an intersection. 

"How about we check the side corridors for ambushes, then go forward?" Marius asks in a hushed voice. Another nod from Lyf as they cautiously turn left. Marius stays at the center, looking out for any movement from the other two corridors. He hears heavy footsteps from behind, then one, two, three gunshots as Lyf takes out whoever was there. Just then Marius sees movement in the right corridor. It’s dark there, so he has to go further in to see who he’s dealing with, loosing sight of the middle corridor. There are three people, which is not nearly enough to take him down. He shoots two right away; the third one (with a cool haircut, he notes) proves to be a bit more agile, but also falls when Marius gets them in the leg and is rewarded by five more shots to the chest. He lets out a triumphant laugh. Fuck, it’s really been a while since he had any decent violence. 

Judging by the gunshots behind, everything seems to be fine with Lyf too, until-

"Marius!" He whips around at the sound of Lyf’s voice, catching a glimpse of their scared face before a sharp pain shoots through his head and everything goes dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh! A cliffhanger? >:3c
> 
> Please let me know if there’s a tag/trigger warning I missed!
> 
> Upd: I posted the link to the work on tumblr @sylph8 if you feel like sharing it :3


	8. Blood And Whiskey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a lot of different things happen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah
> 
> It’s probably messy but I’ll be focusing on finishing this thing first
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> TW: depersonalization, mild descriptions of drinking

It’s hurt, deep down, it is hurt and scared and tired, so now it rages with all its might. It roars and screeches and destroys and lets out its anger on any living thing nearby. It chases and hounds them in its blind uncontrolled rage, it destroys each of them, making sure they’re hurt, tearing them apart like they’re nothing but meat, it makes them run through the metal hallways and get lost because they forgot where they turned, because the cold walls are pressing and suffocating, because they’re alone in space and no one will come to help, because no one will know they were even here, because it could be hiding anywhere any they _don’t know_ and it _knows_ where they are and anything they do is useless and every other face could be an enemy and it’s behind every corner and they’ll all _die_. And it makes sure they do, until there is no one else left alive on the ship.

It doesn’t know what to do now. It’s still raw and hurting and without anyone to hurt it’s left alone with the pain and it’s lost and lonely and sad and just wants to get small and hide away. Why is it even hurt? It feels more complete than it has in decades, it has a purpose once more, a god to serve, bigger and stronger than the one before yet perfectly filling the space it left. 

It keeps moving through the warped and destroyed hallways, not noticing how they seem to get bigger as it shrinks in size, its many limbs fading from existence until they look almost indistinguishable from those who it just killed. 

There is a figure getting up from the floor ahead, and it looks vaguely familiar. That shouldn’t be happening, that felt wrong. 

"Oh boy, what did I miss?" The figure turns towards it with a smile. "Lyf, s’that you?"

That word sounded familiar. Was the figure addressing it? Could it in fact be a Lyf? Maybe, that sounded right. 

"Lyf?" The man approaches, expression quickly getting worried. It (Lyf?) remembers why seeing him felt wrong - the picture of the man falling, shot though the head, now was clear in its mind. 

"Marius?" It tries the first word that comes to mind and hearing its own voice causes a jolt of _no, wrong, no, is it you speaking?_ It brushes the stupid feeling aside. 

The man looks more and more worried as he comes closer and takes in its appearance. It suddenly becomes aware of some wounds on its body, left by those who tried to struggle, currently stitching back together with rainbowy eldritch matter. 

Lyf’s breath hitches as suddenly the haze in their mind fades and they’re flooded with awareness and feelings and memories and it would be too much even if they weren’t already unstable. Marius is saying something, but they’re too busy throwing their arms around him in a hug to bother with figuring out the words. 

"Fuck," they get out, overwhelmed, "I thought you were dead."

"I, uh." Marius gently returns the hug, probably unsure of what to do. "Sorry for scaring you, yes. I’m fine and alive, okay?"

Lyf hums an agreement into his shoulder. Damn, there were definitely things to unpack here, weren’t there? They pull away once they feel a tiny bit better, not wanting to make Marius too uncomfortable. 

"Sorry. Just freaked out a bit." Lyf’s voice is a bit rough from disuse, but just for now talking doesn’t feel like another nightmare. 

"Hey, it’s fine, that happens sometimes." Marius gives them a reassuring smile and they can’t help but give a small smile back. "How about we deal with who’s left safely and return to our ship for a while? Maybe have a drink or two?"

"Oh, I," Lyf hesitates. "I might have killed everyone already?"

"Huh?"

"No one to deal with. Can we leave, please?"

"Sure." Marius doesn’t quite seem like he caught up yet but goes along anyway. Lyf is so, so thankful for that. 

***

A few hours later, they’re both fully healed, very drunk and Lyf had just finished a very vague retelling of their life leading up to this moment (mostly focusing on eldritch bullshit, they can’t take remembering certain people right now). Lyf is half-lying in Marius’ lap and they are too touch-starved and lonely and drunk to worry about it being awkward. They’re probably crying again, too, but it barely registers. Marius doesn’t seem to care anyway.

"It’s just... so hard and, and unfair. I spent so much time getting over it, convincing myself that it wasn’t my fault, that it’ll never happen again, and then I had Midgard, and everything was almost okay again, and now... I just, I feel like I don’t matter, like I’m a fucking tool, like nothing I do can ever make things better."

"It’s not true though, trust me, Lyf. You matter, and the Bifrost was absolutely not your fault. No one can blame you for chasing a good story, trust me." Marius is stroking their back and fuck, do they need it now. Lyf is pretty sure losing- _ending up alone_ in the apocalypse scarred them deeper than they thought previously, seeing how they reacted to Marius dying. Or they freaked out because they have a crush and care deeply about him. Or both. Either way, the comfort Marius provided was needed a lot, even if he was probably just being a good friend and didn’t share Lyf’s feelings. 

"I’m a fucking monster. I killed people for nothing, and I enjoyed it and I don’t even care that it’s wrong. It’s just- so easy to forget they they’re real people again. And it barely bothers me."

"Alright, won’t lie, you’re not wrong. I can’t deny that it’s messed up, but we’re all messed up. You’ll learn to, uh, fully ignore it. You kinda have to when you’re immortal." Even in their drunken state Lyf can understand that Marius knows what he’s talking about. His whole crew does. They’re a bit tired of talking so they ask Marius to tell them more about the other Mechanisms, which Marius happily does. 

"...and then there’s Jonny, he’s a fucking bastard, but don’t let that fool you. He can be the softest one out there sometimes." Marius gives them a secretive grin, "he’d blow my brains out if he knew I told you this. You’d like them. They would like you too, I think."

Lyf has been smiling for some time now. "You sound very fond of them."

"Yeah. We’re, uh, kinda in a relationship." For some reason, he’s avoiding their eyes now.

"With Jonny or-"

"All of us. In one way or another. Uh. Yeah." Ah well. Lyf tries their best to not let their face show that they’re hurt. It doesn’t fully make sense - Marius is evidently happy with his partners, and Lyf wouldn’t want to disrupt that. Even if he likes them back, there’s no way the rest of the crew would have the energy to deal with them. Besides, they can’t just waltz into the equation out of nowhere. That’s not how polycules work, right? Still, deep down Lyf hopes there might be a place for them among the Mechanisms. The few that they met were all beautiful and interesting, if a bit unhinged, people and spending an immortal life alone again seemed unbearable. 

Besides, there had to be a reason why Marius abandoned La Cognizi and Alexandria to pull Lyf out of the Bifrost. Why he was comforting them now, telling them something even though they haven’t been listening for some time. They really, really hope it’s not because Marius is just that good of a friend. Lyf has been so lonely for so long. 

***

The two of them begin stripping the pirate ship of anything valuable the next morning (after they deal with their hangovers). Lyf shudders a bit from the sight of some of the bodies, but at least Marius does his best not to focus attention on that or the deformed rainbow-stained corridors (it reminds them too much of some of the domains back on Earth, the fact that they caused it doesn’t make it better). They get out the food, the money and some tools and materials, fixing their own ship’s systems right in the docking bay of the pirate vessel. Turns out, their craft is named Skuldelev and does not look too nice from the outside, so Marius digs out of somewhere a few buckets of bright paint and he and Lyf spend a day turning their ship into a multicolored horror (Marius makes sure to ask if they’re okay with the amount of colors. They are - at least the paint isn’t eldritch in nature, and if they’re probably going to spend at least the next few hundred years as a servant for the Bifrost, they better get used to the branding and the color palette).

Restocked on supplies, fuel, drinks and board games (the pirates had a few), Lyf and Marius board the Skuldelev and leave the hollowed-out pirate ship to float in the void. With how far they managed to get from the epicenter of the Bifrost by now, Lyf soon manages to catch a signal and retune the navigation systems, finding a few relatively nearby planets. 

"Wanna have fun or keep it normal for now?" Marius asks them, looking over their shoulders at the screens on the control panel as they chart a course for the nearest civilized settlement. 

_I’m pretty sure I’ll be doing everything the ‘fun way’ eventually, why not start now?_ Lyf didn’t feel comfortable speaking today, but they stole enough paper to last them quite a while, so it was okay. Marius beams at the words, already visibly brimming with energy.

"Great. What do we need then? Clothes? Supplies? Arson? Oh, oh, Lyf, would you like to learn a musical instrument? It’s-"

They tap his shoulder, interrupting. _No need to learn, I already know how to play the cello_. Though they didn’t have much practice over the last few years. 

"How is it that we have known each other for a decade by now but I still learn something so big about you so often? It’s getting ridiculous." They laugh at that and write on. 

_It would be nice to get another instrument here. Your violin is alright, but I would like to play too. We’ll also need to fix the more complex systems, I’m not a professional mechanic. So maybe start out slow and sane and begin the shooting only when we have what we need._ Also, Lyf isn’t sure if they were ready to get supplies or clothes with authorities on their back. Maybe someday they’ll be able to do that, but now they want to take it slow. 

"Yeah, alright, cool," Marius kind of looks like how he did when the Mechs were planning to break out of prison in Midgard, exited and much more fidgety than usual. The sight kind of fills Lyf with energy too, so they go to check if their guns are ready for action. Marius has actually shown them a few patented immortal-pirate’s tricks to make wreaking havoc with weapons more efficient and fun, which was totally not intimate and did not make Lyf regret they knew how to shoot a gun at all so that Marius didn’t have to teach them from the beginning. Not at all. 

A few hours later they can see the planet they’re headed towards - not too big, but, according to the readouts, technologically advanced. Pretty soon they get a signal from a patrolling vessel, and Lyf hands to Marius their notebook where they wrote out any info (partially made-up) on the ship the patrol could request. 

"Come in, vessel Skuldelev, this is patrolling vessel R-3, officer Wyr, do you have a landing permit?"

"Ah, hello, officer," Marius starts with flourish, "I am doctor baron Von Raum, speaking for captain Edda," he gives Lyf a wink. They roll their eyes. "requesting, uh, emergency landing! See, we’re fleeing the destruction of the Yggdrasil system, and are in need of supplies, repairs and rest. Could that be arranged?"

"Oh, wow, uh." The officer seems shocked. "I think so? No one expected survivors, but... Uh, yes, yes, let me just contact the main office, we’ll see what can be done. Are any of you in need of any immediate help?"

"Not at all, officer, I’m too good of a doctor and our captain is too good of a captain for anything to get too out of hand! We’ll just land for a short while, rest and take off." ' _Unless you want to stay?_ ' Marius whispers to Lyf, covering the dynamic. _No_ , they shake their head. 

"Alright then, I’ll be able to send you coordinates for you to land at in a few minutes." The transmission ends. 

_Captain Edda, really?_ Lyf writes, giving him an unimpressed look.

"Would you like that to change? Enjoy the power while it lasts, Jonny wouldn’t let anyone be called captain." Marius, still in performance mode, gives them a charming smile that, honestly, should just be illegal. 

The control panel blips with an incoming message before Lyf can come up with an answer. 

***

With their combined effort the Skuldelev manages to land with almost no issues. There are people who meet them outside the ship, some government officials concerned about the fate of Yggdrasil, but Marius somehow guides Lyf through and out of the small crowd, never once shutting up but also without really answering any questions. 

"...severely traumatized, so as doctor I can tell you that the best treatment would be ignoring the whole death thing and pretending like nothing happened until we think we feel better, so please kindly let us go exploring your wondrous city and never approach us again. Thanks!" Lyf wasn’t going to question how they got out. 

Up ahead lie the bustling streets of a big city, filled with small shops and merchants and travelers. They have to stop by a mechanic and arrange some repairs before leaving port, but soon enough the two of them are free to go. 

"So. Shopping?" Marius now focuses his energy back on Lyf. They shrug, _sure_. The two of them make their way through the streets, merchants, shop signs and colorful storefronts all begging for attention. Marius is all over the place, stopping by every street vendor to examine whatever they’re selling while also somehow managing to keep up with Lyf, who mostly just examines the chaos of the marketplace from afar. 

"Lyf, Lyf! Look there -no, to the left of that one- there! A music shop! You wanted a cello, right?" Lyf doesn’t have enough time to answer, Marius already headed straight for the shop. 

It’s a small store, not as fancy as the one Lyf used to work at, but it’s filled to the brim with all sorts of instruments. Guitars, flutes, a few keyboards and many more weird items that Lyf had never seen or Known. Marius is immediately distracted by something that looks like a colorful mix of a trombone and a harp, while Lyf spots a cello-shaped form in one of the corners. Sure enough, it’s a cello - with slightly different proportions than what they were used to, but a good instrument nonetheless. 

"Oh, pretty. Do you want this one?" Marius is suddenly right behind them. 

Yes, they scribble on the smaller notebook they took from the ship, _but how are we getting it out? Its not that small._

"Well, first of all, don’t underestimate my burglary skills," Marius said out loud, not even keeping his voice down. None one in the shop seemed to notice. "And secondly, didn’t you want to start peacefully? Just remember where this shop is, we’ll fetch the cello on our way out. Anything else you want to take from here?"

There isn’t, so the two of them exit the music shop. 

***

Lyf is standing in a changing booth in a clothing store, staring at the mirror. Turns out, they haven’t seen their own reflection since the Bifrost, and have only now noticed the small changes in their appearance. 

Their shadow seems to shift ever so slightly and on their skin there are barely noticeable reflections of colors that aren’t anywhere around. The spidersilk silver streaks in their hair are now have an iridescent shimmer, and their eyes are an eldritch silvery color instead of the more familiar eldritch green. Lyf only sees the faded shadows of circular scars on their face because they know where to look for them. 

It seems like the last ties to their old dead patron were gone. Once, a very long time ago, a fundamental change like that would’ve left them paralyzed with terror, but now they only sighed at the person in the mirror, turning away to get the coat Marius was so insistent they try out. 

The clothes the two of them (mostly Marius) picked out were, unsurprisingly, similar in style to the things the other Mechanisms wore. It wasn’t that bad, actually, especially compared to the worn transport police uniform Lyf had; the shirts and vests were comfortable and felt nice, the boots fit perfectly and had a lot of potential for hiding daggers, and the coat Marius picked was honestly just great. It was a deep green, almost black, with rainbow accents on the cuffs and the collar. The coat was also somewhat heavy in a good way, making Lyf feel steadier and safer. And if it brought out the less human-like features in Lyfrassir, well. They have long since given up on chasing humanity. 

Lyf steps out of the changing room, not bothering with taking their old uniform with them, and smiles when they see Marius waiting for them. 

"Woah, Lyf. I should’ve dragged you out of your office and go shopping years ago, you look fucking gorgeous." It almost seemed like Marius was blushing, but that was probably the odd lighting of the shop. However, Lyf does clearly feel the blush creeping on their own cheeks at the compliment. "Ready to go?"

Lyf takes a deep breath, recalling the path back to the ship they were about to take. Their hand grips the pistol in their pocket. Finally, ready for the chase, they nod. 

"Awesome," is all Marius says before whipping around and darting for the exit, Lyf barely managing to keep up despite Von Raum being shorter than them. 

At first the only ones chasing after them are the shopkeepers, but after a few minutes they hear voices that sound more like authorities demanding them to stop. Marius answers with gunshots and a manic laugh that makes something inside Lyf light up with a warm feeling. 

The two of them dart through the narrow streets, Marius finding his way through the crowd almost instinctively and Lyf following close behind him. Soon, they’re back at the music shop and Marius storms in through one of the windows, shattering the glass with a bullet. Lyf turns to their pursuers, shooting in the general direction of the police people. The adrenaline made their blood boil with giddy energy, a feeling similar to something they observed a few lifetimes ago in the domains of the Hunt and the Slaughter. It’s so fucking great to feel the drive firsthand. 

Marius bursts out through another window, a cello case behind his back, and Lyf starts running again, not bothering with following Marius anymore - the path to the port was pretty straightforward from here. 

When they reach their ship, though, they are met with a couple dozens of guns all trained on the two of them. It’s not like this is something that will stop them for long, but Lyf doesn’t really want the situation to get messy like it did back on the pirate ship. 

Then they have an idea. 

Something shifts in Lyf, the thrill of the chase and violence still singing in their veins. They want to do something reckless. They feel for the place where the Bifrost rooted itself in their being, the lack of emptiness still dizzying them sometimes, and they reach out to the eldritch connection. 

Lyf feels a potential for very different displays of power, but opts to use one they were most skilled at. Their sight is split into hundreds of points of view, chaotic for a moment until they focus on the people ahead, Seeing them as they are paralyzed by the weight of their gaze. Even Marius, only partially affected, flinches beside them. Lyfrassir singles out the government representative standing in front of them, one of the people so eager to ask them about the Yggdrasil system. 

" _YOU WANTED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO YGGDRASIL, FOOL_." Their voice is distorted and deafening and laced heavily with static. " _THEN **KNOW**_."

Lyfrassir _opens the door_ in the human’s mind, letting the Knowledge of the Bifrost crash on them, their frail body collapsing on the floor as they scream in pain, every distorted victim of Yog-Sothoth vivid in their mind. Lyfrassir isn’t quite used to the power so their victims body might be somewhat warped by the eldritch force. No matter, it’s even more fun this way. 

They turn to the Skuldelev and walk towards it, still Seeing the people behind, and enter, Marius following them silently. No one makes a move to stop them. With a few swift motions Lyfrassir starts the engines and their vessel takes off into the sky, unharmed. 

"Whatever the fuck you did back there, it was amazing." The tension seeps out of Marius as he sets the cello case on the ground with a laugh. "Have you seen their faces? Priceless. Do you think you could do that again?"

"Uh." Seems like Lyf’s voice returned to them for now, if a bit rough. "Yeah, I think I can. Would you like me to try?"

Marius’ eyes light up with excitement and Lyf is pretty sure they’d do anything to see that again. "Oh, oh, what was that that you did to that bastard? Make them hurt? Warp their body?"

"More like shove knowledge into their mind? It was a lot, so it hurt. I also didn’t control it, so it went too hard."

" _Cool_. Could you make me know something? Maybe with less pain, if that’s possible, but if not - I’m still up for that! Oh, oh, Raphaella is so going to make you do that to her, trust me."

Hm. Lyf was pretty sure they could _open a door_ in Marius’ mind with less force than they did before. Open just a crack instead of ripping though his mind. Lyf definitely didn’t want to hurt him in any way. 

What should they open the door to, though? Wait. 

"Hm, from what I heard you’re not really a doctor, are you?"

"Wow, Lyf, and I thought of you as a friend! You wound me."

"No, no, sorry," they laugh. "I was just thinking - would you like to become one? That’s something I could make you know."

Marius brightens up with the realization. "Do you mean-"

"Yeah. Well, you’d still have to get a license, to be considered a _real_ real doctor, but the knowledge? I can do that." 

"Yes," an immediate answer. "Please. You can’t imagine how hilarious their expressions are gonna be when they find out."

"Oh, I think I can. Now, maybe sit down, I’m not sure how overwhelming it’ll be. Ready?" An eager nod. "Then _**know**_." Their voice is once more crackling with heavy static as they _open the door _.__

__Lyf focuses all their power on trying not to dump all knowledge of medicine into Marius at once, settling only on common Earth medicine as that’s something they also Know from their time as the Archive and feel more comfortable processing. Lyf is too concentrated to notice how much time it takes, but by the time they become aware of their surroundings again, the planet they’re leaving is nowhere to be seen in the windows of the ship. Marius is a bit out of it, but Lyf can feel that nothing is too wrong. Though they suddenly realize just how dangerous was what they just did. High on adrenaline and whatever eldritch bullshit affected them, they didn’t exactly put too much thought into altering the mind of their only companion (also their fucking crush). Two immortal idiots stuck in space, what could go wrong?_ _

__Eventually, Marius also comes to his senses, and doesn’t seem too damaged (if you don’t count the fact that he had the equivalent of decades of study in his mind, a damage in its own kind)._ _

__"Holy shit. Medical doctors must be fucking mad if they have to study all that. I, uh. Thanks, I guess. For sparing me years of suffering."_ _

__"Years of suffering? Would you have gone into medical school at all?"_ _

__"No idea. Eternity is a long time. Wanna go check your cello? I could show you some of our songs."_ _

__"Sure."_ _

__***_ _

__It has been almost a year since the destruction of the Yggdrasil system, and Lyfrassir was having the time of their life. In the past months they and Marius (now a proud licensed doctor) have wreaked havoc in most of the systems near Yggdrasil, earning a reputation of uncatchable chaotic eldritch pirates._ _

__Lyf fully embraced their new pirate life and eldritch power, using violence and chaos when they probably needed therapy, but, according to Marius, that was what every immortal pirate did. As for the eldritch powers, there seemed to be little boundaries for Lyf - apparently, Yog-Sothoth either didn’t know or didn’t care about them syphoning its power, the godlike entity powerful enough to easily sustain itself and a tiny vessel like Lyfrassir. Nothing like the weak leech that preyed on Earth, constantly requiring human servants to feed it._ _

__So they killed and drove people to madness left and right, reveling in the vibrant feeling of adrenaline alongside Dr. Von Raum. Their crush didn’t go anywhere over time, but they were naturally very good at repressing and managed to keep a steady platonic relationship with him. With just the two of them on the Skuldelev, they were close enough that Lyf could be content with friendship, happily brushing aside the anxiety that came with the thought of confessing their feelings._ _

__That became a problem when upon landing in a city they found that it was already pillaged. Unreasonable amounts of arson, explosives and straight up senseless murder were involved, and by the way Marius lit up Lyf knew the other mechanisms were near. Upon asking around the two of them figured out where the crew of the Aurora were headed, Marius eager to catch up with his crewmates and partners. Needless to say, Lyf wasn’t as exited._ _

__They spent the entire journey to the next planet in the system worrying about what could go wrong. The crew would most likely hate them, or at least most of it would. They would consider Lyf unworthy or too weak or too boring and throw them away. Hell, the crew was in a relationship, Leaving them on the ship would just be awkward. They most definitely would end up alone again, never even getting to tell Marius how they feel. Lyf didn’t get a lot of sleep those few days._ _

__So Lyf had to admit that they were relieved that the Mechanisms were already gone by the time the Skuldelev reached the next planet. Marius was a bit disappointed, but, being his restless self, he quickly figured out what the next destination of the band would be._ _

__Lyf couldn’t take another journey like that and decided that they will confront Marius before they catch up with the Aurora. If Marius rejects them, they could just stay on whatever planet they’ll land on and try to live alone again._ _

__When Lyf finally got the courage they needed, the ship was due to arrive on the planet in two days. The two of them were spending time on the bridge; Marius was playing around on his violin, trying out new melodies to ‘write a backstory ballad’, as he put it, while Lyf was mindlessly drawing something in one of their notebooks, trying to come up with proper words._ _

__Thankfully, they had their voice today._ _

__"Marius?"_ _

__"Yeah?"_ _

__"I- I wanted to tell, since we’ll catch up with the others on the next planet and if you- I- ugh. I just appreciate the fact that you have been dealing with me and that you got me out of- of Yggdrasil and you’re also-so-nice-and-always-have-been-and-you’re-interesting-and-I-think-I’m-interested-in-you. romantically." Fuck, do they feel like a stupid teenager right now. They can’t handle looking at Marius, but he’s not answering, and panic rises in Lyf’s throat._ _

__Lyf drags a hand over their face, "Sorry, nevermind, I-"_ _

__"Fuck, Lyf, I’m such an idiot." The words barely register; Lyf can already feel themselves falling into a self-loathing spiral, but they don’t because Marius is suddenly near them and he’s holding their face in his hands and he’s _kissing them_. They freeze, eyes wide, too confused and overwhelmed to properly react. _ _

__As soon as Marius feels that, he pulls away. "Shit, sorry, did I misread?"_ _

__"N-no, no, it’s ok," they breathe out, placing a hand on top of his to stop him from pulling away too far. There is so much emotion in Marius’ eyes and Lyf absolutely cannot handle it, so they lean forward and press their lips together again._ _

__It’s surreal and overwhelming, but Marius’ lips feel so good and warm and they’re safe in his arms and Lyf can’t really form coherent thoughts for a few moments, letting themselves dissolve in Marius’ touch. As always, it doesn’t last. As their thoughts clear out a bit, they remember something and immediately pull away, trying not to focus on the small noise that escapes Marius’ throat._ _

__"Wait. What about the others, your partners? I don’t, we can’t-"_ _

__"Lyf, " Marius interrupts, "Lyf, you’re so wonderful, so beautiful, you’re such a bastard -in a good way, I mean!- there’s no way the crew’s not going to like you. You’ll fit right in. And if you’re not into that, no one will be forcing you to get in a relationship with anyone else."_ _

__Lyf didn’t let the spark of hope light up to soon, their anxious mind scrambling for any other reason for Marius to reject them._ _

__"But- it didn’t come up before, but I’m, uh, asexual?" They should’ve probably mentioned that earlier. Lyf distantly hoped that Marius would still like them for who they were, but their eldritch perfect memory didn’t let them forget all the negativity their identity brought them in the distant past._ _

__"Half of our crew is some flavor of ace, too, this will absolutely not be an issue. Really, Lyf, don’t worry, we’ll figure it all out." Marius gives them the softest smile and there is so much hope and love in his eyes and _this can’t be happening_. Lyf was proud to admit that they reached the point where they accepted good things happening to them, but this was an entirely different level. It _couldn’t_ be true, right? Things like that are so alien to the life of Lyfrassir Edda, this couldn’t be real. _ _

__"Lyf?" Marius traces their cheek with his finger, why would he- oh. They’re crying, apparently. "Come here." He brings them into a gentle hug and Lyf buries their face in his shoulder, sobbing quietly while Marius whispers reassuring words and presses kisses to their hair._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah :)
> 
> Next chapter will probably be the last one with a possibility of an epilogue. I’m surprisingly close to actually finishing this bad boy which makes me very happy :)
> 
> As always, thank you so much for all the feedback, it means a lot to me!


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